Rental Prices: Let’s Concentrate on the Human Element

Well, we've had quite a discussion about this topic, haven't we? I'd say that, for the most part, we are of one accord that, yes indeed,rental prices are higher than the average person can manage. Having said that, there is really nothing we can do about it. The sad part of the whole thing is this: I wrote all these articles from the point of view of someone who is homeless and it's turned into a political argument. Such is the state of the country today. Everything is political these days. That's a real shame because that's just one more thing that divides us.

I have no political agenda here.Homelessness belongs to no political party. My sole purpose in all this is simply to try and raise some awareness about the human side of this issue. In case you missed my story about how I became homeless, you can click HERE and read it.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my experience with being homeless is nothing compared to the plight of the true homeless person. We all understand how economics works. A few readers seemed to think that I was proposing some kind of government intervention. Hell, the last thing we need is for the government to get involved. Besides, supply and demand is just one of those things that occurs naturally.

I was hoping to shed some light on the people who might be dismissed as "collateral damage" as part of our economic growth. You know, some of those people who can't afford to live here anymore were born here. They went to school and started families and paid taxes and contributed to the community, but now, they can no longer afford to live in their own hometown. They are part of the personality of Lake Charles. These people matter.

I fully realize that there is nothing we can do about the situation other than wait it out. It's a terrible situation. Whether or not the rental prices are truly over-inflated for the market or if the market can bear these prices remains to be seen. The outcome of all this discussion is up in the air. I do know this: no matter how that situation eventually plays out, there will be people who fall through the cracks and there will be "collateral damage" on the human side.

Frankly, for the most part, I don't see this issue as a matter of greed. My personal opinion is that some people just got caught up in the excitement and jumped the gun on a projected housing shortage. Granted there are a few people out there who are out to rip people off and take advantage of the situation. These people are preying on good people who will now have to move to less of a home. There are families who will have to move to neighborhoods that are not safe. There are people who will have to move away completely.

Now, I know that some people waded in on this issue as Democrats or Republicans; liberals or conservatives, Well, I'm not talking to you as a Democrat, Republican, conservative or liberal. I just want to touch the core of your sense of humanity. I want to appeal, as Abraham Lincoln once beautifully said, to the "better angels in us all."